The Girl from Columbia ISBN: 9781642378900 Gatekeeper Press, copyright and written by Julian Rodrigues.
This is a story covering a significant portion of time and activity that had taken place in Columbia and the United States before 1884 where the story begins in Sea Girt, New Jersey and extends well into the next century. The author offers some introductory remarks referring to a story by Guy de Maupassant that presents, perhaps somewhat mystical characters that are most representative of those set forth in his own forthcoming tale. It is one of tragedy resultant of the unscrupulous activity of several totally amoral, vicious men as they proceed through life with seemingly only hedonistic goals and acquirement of personal wealth and more significantly, power. The action begins with a general depiction of the Columbian youngster and her activities in rather ghostlike familiarization to obtain knowledge of all of the nooks and crannies of her father’s huge house. Also gradually exposed are a description of the father’s (Samuel Johnson) personal appearance, undesirable traits, alliances, and the eventual consequences as other characters appear and are incorporated into the mixture.
Discussion: The author has set forth a dark story of abuse of power, not only of personal love, but of against an entire class of people. It is a tale of the effects of the despicably deceitful acts of a man who acquires power and money and employs it literally in almost inhumane ways that are destructive to many individuals. The characters associated with, as well as those contrary to, his desired goals are appropriately introduced and gradually developed with respect both to reasons for, and action taken against, the man. The book does exhibit some author unfamiliarity with some aspects of the book which would enhance enjoyment, but this no doubt will be unnoticed by most readers.
5* Unusual, relatively fast-paced, dark mystery/suspense